Noël Kingsley, Alexander Technique, London

The Alexander Technique not only helps your body work more efficiently, but also your mind! After a lesson with Noël I think more clearly, communicate more effectively and generally feel much calmer.
Karen Wheeler, Journalist

The Alexander Technique addresses the root cause of many conditions such as back pain, neck tension, stress and the others listed above. The majority of health treatments deal with alleviating symptoms, however the Alexander Technique deals with the whole ‘use of ourself’ and what we are doing to ourselves habitually that causes the condition. It helps to eliminate harmful habits that are responsible for our condition, so we may cease needing treatment. But the Alexander Technique goes way beyond dealing with painful symptoms as we deal with our whole use and functioning.

The founder of the Alexander Technique, FM Alexander discovered that it is our habits that are the impeding factor in our progress towards better health and functioning, and that general mal-coordination is often mistaken for a specific defect. So for instance, poor breathing, backache etc are only a symptom (the tip of the iceberg) and not the main issue. Treatment for any condition is unlikely to have lasting benefit unless the underlying overall cause of mal-coordination is addressed. This is where the Alexander Technique comes in.

Malco-ordination affects everything we do. If we have hunched shoulders, a stoop and tendency to stiffen our neck, these unnecessary tensions and malco-ordination of our musculature will influence how we move, sit, walk or stand. They also affect us socially, professionally and in sport and even our mood and self confidence.. They affect how we feel and how we interact with others. Indeed they affect everything we do. It is not possible for us to bring the best of ourselves to any activity, be it sport, singing, running, nor our ability to speak in public without nerves affecting us or even do our daily activities without pain or discomfort. Co-ordinational habits affect our posture, mobility and agility so we deteriorate and age more quickly. Yet, but unlearning these habits with the Alexander Technique we can eliminate the cause of so many aspects of our lives so we feel and function quite differently; feeling more athletic and agile, pain free with relaxed confidence and a calm, happy demeanour.

The Alexander Technique is a practical method that we learn, so we can apply the principles of the Alexander Technique for ourselves during our daily lives. Sessions in the Alexander Technique are in the form of lessons rather than treatment, so we become familiar with the principles of the Alexander Technique and able to use it for our own benefit. With the hands-on guidance we receive from a qualified teacher of the Alexander Technique, the accuracy of our sensory perception is improved, providing us with more sensitivity and accurate awareness of what we are doing with our poise and muscles, and we develop a specific ability in how to use the Alexander Technique to help ourselves and avoid problems. As FM Alexander said, “If we stop doing the wrong thing, the right thing does itself”.

FM Alexander discovered that there is a Primary Control in the relationship of our head, neck and back that governs the whole of our co-ordination in movement and poise. It is learning to use this Primary Control and not disturb this delicate interrelationship by means of the Alexander Technique that enables us to influence the healthy co-ordination of our many hundreds of muscles when standing, sitting, walking or any other activity in a very simple way.

When we begin to consciously control our muscular co-ordination with the Alexander Technique we prevent postural habits from dictating how we move so we can revive the natural poise we had as young children. The instinct for healthy poise is there from birth and is with us all our lives, and it is this that is revived by using the Alexander Technique on a daily basis. The new control we gain with the Alexander Technique allows us to function better, avoiding the strain and imbalance that is the cause of so many conditions and painful symptoms and the old habits slip away as new improved and natural poise is restored.

If we are having treatment for a specific condition, the Alexander Technique is likely to work alongside the treatment very well, so that our postural habits that caused the condition are reduced. It is most likely that the Alexander Technique will provide a means of eliminating the cause of problems so they cease to exist and symptoms disappear; the Alexander Technique will also enable other treatments to be more effective.

The improved general functioning achieved by using the Alexander Technique can be surprising and new opportunities open up for us to express ourselves and even start new activities that may not have previously been possible given our condition. Rather than being restricting, the Alexander Technique actually allows new possibilities to enter our lives, on a physical level as well as professionally, socially, and emotionally. With the Alexander Technique we release the habits that have been so restrictive in the past.

Learning the Alexander Technique can literally change our lives. Having a course of lessons in the Alexander Technique may cost the price of a short holiday, but it is a skill that will be with us for the rest of our lives. This means that although we may have an initial course in the Alexander Technique and then possibly supported by occasional top-up lessons we do not need to continue seeking treatment. We will be able to bring the best from ourselves so we can be more healthy and active for the rest of our life.